{"product_id":"christer-bothen-oren-ambarchi-johan-berthling-andreas-werliin-serpentine","title":"Christer Bothén \/ Oren Ambarchi \/ Johan Berthling \/ Andreas Werliin - Serpentine","description":"\u003cp\u003eAfter the wild Afro-jazz fusion of \u003cem\u003eTrancedance\u003c\/em\u003e (reissued as BT118) and the meditative solo \u003cem\u003eChrister Bothén Donso n'goni\u003c\/em\u003e (BT133), legendary Swedish multi-instrumentalist \u003cstrong\u003eChrister Bothén\u003c\/strong\u003e returns to Black Truffle as part of a dream quartet completed by the three members of \u003cstrong\u003eGhosted\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003eOren Ambarchi\u003c\/strong\u003e (guitar), \u003cstrong\u003eJohan Berthling\u003c\/strong\u003e (bass) and \u003cstrong\u003eAndreas Werliin\u003c\/strong\u003e (drums).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecorded at a rustic studio built by Werliin and \u003cstrong\u003eHans Fredriksson\u003c\/strong\u003e in the sylvan surrounds of Hamburgsund, Sweden across a few days in September 2023, \u003cem\u003eSerpentine\u003c\/em\u003e offers up four generous slices of hypnotic repetition and shimmering resonance, cut through with wild bursts of Bothén's bass clarinet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe depth and ease of the quartet's rapport is evident from the first moments of the opening title track. Berthling's resonant upright bass locks into a head-nodding ostinato that makes sensitive use of a prominent end-of-phrase rest, opening spaces through which Werliin's continually shifting statements of the pulse shine through. Having worked together in various groups for many years, Berthling and Werliin are masters at playing subtle games of difference and repetition, creating a driving rhythmic flow animated by perpetually changing details: here, you can never step in the same groove twice. Weaving through it all is Ambarchi's now-signature Leslie-cabinet guitar tone, sounding out long chords at times strikingly close to a Hammond, while also creating intricate cross-rhythms through the play of his tremolo modulations against the bass and drums. When Bothén enters five minutes in, the growl of his bass clarinet at first works deep in the collective brew, carving off brief staccato phrases and twisting them into fragmented melodies. As he moves into the instrument's higher registers, Bothén's playing becomes wilder, twinning with Ambarchi's guitar in shimmering arcs like a 21st century update of the \u003cstrong\u003eGarbarek-Rypdal\u003c\/strong\u003e pairing immortalised on \u003cem\u003eSart\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach of the four pieces explores different possibilities of a shared language. On \u003cem\u003eAntigorite\u003c\/em\u003e, another hypnotic bass riff emerges gradually from an atmospheric haze, eventually developing into a frenetic rhythmic workout propelled by Werliin's cowbell. Berthling sits out for \u003cem\u003eLizardite\u003c\/em\u003e, while Bothén moves from bass clarinet to the Donso n'goni, the sacred Wassoulou hunter's harp he has studied for half a century; the resulting performance streamlines the approach heard on other tracks into pure modal propulsion, sparkling with harp-like arpeggios from Ambarchi's guitar. On the closing \u003cem\u003eChrysotile\u003c\/em\u003e, the bottom drops out, leaving a swampy, churning mass of wavering organ-like chords, roaming bass runs, and distant toms, over which Bothén floats bass clarinet figures by turns bluesy and abstract, the whole thing landing somewhere between classic ECM and the most blasted freeform moments of early \u003cstrong\u003eAmon Düül II\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Black Truffle","offers":[{"title":"Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":58509839204697,"sku":"SDZ-48360","price":40.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/0045835761_10.jpg?v=1783338484","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/christer-bothen-oren-ambarchi-johan-berthling-andreas-werliin-serpentine","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}